I'm Afraid of the Dark
by Timarelay
Summary: What if umbreons fed off fear?


I'm Afraid of the Dark.  
  
Go ahead, laugh at me. I know you want to. But when I have finished telling my tale, I assure you, neither of us shall be laughing. I'm afraid of the dark, but I am not ashamed of it, for the dark is a terrible thing. In all honesty, I am not afraid of the dark, but rather, of the things that lurk within it. When it's dark, you have no idea what's behind you, below you, in front of you, or behind you. You have no idea what's watching you, yet you *know* there *is* something watching you.   
  
My name is Trav, and I am a male, adult venusaur. For my entire life, I have been haunted, tortured by the tiny terrors of my town - The burakkis, or umbreons as you may know them. I can see that smile creeping on to your face again, and once more, I warn you that this is no laughing matter. The burakkis here have a dark taint, they're, for lack of a more descriptive word, evil. These are not your normal withdrawn, quiet eeveelutions. These are outright mean little creatures. Black with yellow rings, and red eyes that glow brightly in the dark. They live off of the fear of their victims, and on cold, gloomy days such as this, they feast.  
  
When I was only a young bulbasaur, I was attacked for the first time. Entering my mind forcefully, they plucked out my one and only fear, being chased in the dark and unable to escape, and projected it full force at me. I remember the pain, the sheer agony, the attempt to scream, yet with no sound, and then everything went blank. I've been told by other pokemon that my trainer found me lying on the floor, my mouth twisted into a silent scream and my eyes wide open, yet blank. My vines were whipping around wildly though, the only part of my body, other than my chest, that moved, lashing out at an unseen enemy.  
  
Unlike their other victims, I survived for some reason. I survived to be repeatedly tortured, repeatedly nearly killed. I survived to watch others go through the horror I had been through, and die from it. I survived to live my life looking over my shoulder, dreading when they should re-appear. My trainer thought I had some sort of mental problem, but continued to train me anyway. At times he would let me sleep in his bed, to try and comfort me, but I would wake up at night, breathing heavily, and start screaming. Eventually, he ended up leaving me in my pokeball to sleep, which turned out to be a worse solution, as the burakkis somehow managed to pierce through the barriers of the pokeball and get me there where no one could help me, where no one knew I was going through this terror.  
  
After many years, their attacks on me lessened as they grew in power, and in numbers, and started going after humans... To this day, I have no idea why the humans have not learnt that the burakkis here are evil, why they have not heeded the warnings of their pokemon to leave this isolated island.  
  
Two incidents shall remain burned into my mind. The first, they lured me out of my pokeball, controlling me against my will and leading me deep into the forest where three young teenagers were camping. I remember the way my heart wrenched when I saw those young, innocent humans laughing at a joke around the warm campfire, unaware of their fate. Purposely, the burakkis let me watch them while they were still smiling, still happy and carefree, before they made their move.  
  
The fire went out, and I could hear the rustle of leaves as one of them jumped, slightly scared. Another fumbled through their pockets and emerged with a box of matches, but when he lit them, he saw right before him a pair of glowing red eyes, and screamed, dropping the match. Before the other two knew what was going on, they were attacked, pinned down swiftly by the evil eevees, who held me frozen in my spot, forced to watch the young ones thrash wildly in fear.  
  
They were found dead the next day, eyes and mouths open in fear, and no one, except the pokemon who were not listened to, knew what to make of it.  
  
The second incident is one that I can never rid my mind of, no matter how much I want to... Susana, or 'Lil' Susie' was the sweetest human child I'd ever met. Curly brown hair in two bouncy pigtails, bright green eyes that always seemed happy. Even as a baby, she'd been the cheeriest thing alive, and at six years old, she hadn't changed one bit. She was the pet of the town, the little kid that everyone loved and wished to be their own. One morning, however, she was found curled up in the fetal position in bed, her eyes open and blank, the blissful twinkle gone, and her mouth twisted open in a silent scream. I blame her death on myself, for she was my trainer's daughter, and I should have known that they would target her one day, and I should have been watching her...  
  
Beware of the dark, you who read this, beware of what lurks within it. My tale is but one of thousands, and I am just one soul who decided that someone should know about our plight. I wish I could leave, but I can't... The burakkis keep me from killing myself, or ever leaving the island. I still haven't figured out why they keep me alive, why they don't kill me, but maybe it's because I want to die... They don't want to give me what I want, that I have learned. They enjoy playing with my emotions, they enjoy my being their personal puppet, and they will continue to enjoy it, for until I die, I am theirs, and I am afraid of the dark. 


End file.
